Droughts - Welcome Back

The backstory to Droughts’ tightly wound “Welcome Back” is one of sincere honesty – an honesty quite different than that usually found within the realm of post-hardcore. Singer and bassist Joe Klomes dives into coming out as bisexual to his wife and family on a track that is condensed to a nuclear atom ready to explode with earnestness, tinges of uncertainty, and eventual hope.

While one might cynically pass off the rapid fire percussion and buzzing guitars of “Welcome Back” as prototypical post-hardcore, the single is truly anything but. The whole structure collapses and compresses in on itself throughout – like seeing a supernova become a neutron star only to bounce back again. All the while Klomes words are a mixture of expressive, reflective, emotive, and analytical.

You can feel the importance of what’s being said shoot in a multitude of directions, especially when they are timed so perfectly with a strike on the drums. In a raw, visceral, and beautiful manner, his words lift out of him as “Welcome Back” walks a fine line vacillating between tempered and explosive.

There’s much more to come, as Skeletal Lightning will be releasing the band’s new album Stay Behind on February 24th. You can pre-order it from the label’s site. Joey Smith